~STORY BEHIND THE DAY ~ EPISODE TWO “REEFS AND WRECKS”
~ January 24, 2021 - Hawks Cay Resort - Duck Key, FL
Captain Brandon Simmons - Day two with Steven was an absolute blast. Day one was definitely going to be hard to beat, but once again when I walked out the front door in the morning the wind was calm and the temperature was perfect. I knew we were going to have a great day on the water. This time I decided I would switch it up from the first day in the Gulf and take Steven, Tom, and Rich out to the ocean side. The reports were good and the spots weren’t far. We started out the day catching bait in the bay. We caught some Pilchards and then ripped it out under Long Key bridge to Tennessee Reef. When we got to the reef I saw there was some Ballyhoo so I threw the net and loaded up the deck well. On the way to a patch I normally fish I saw some Barracudas and decided we would troll some live Ballyhoo around before tossing the anchor. It didn’t take long before Steven was hooked up and fighting a nice Cuda. We caught a few and then threw the anchor. Chumming the water is always a go to when fishing the patches, it makes the ocean come to life and before you know it there is all sorts of fish behind the boat. We got tight on some Red Groupers and even had a nice Cero Mackerel make his way into the Yeti. After all the action on the reef we pulled anchor and headed to the deep. I knew the African Pompano had been on one of my spots in about 130ft. When we got to the spot the bottom machine lit up! I dropped a live Pinfish down and before you know it we were hooked up to a good size fish. The drag was screaming and the fight was on! When Steven got the led to the rod tip I could see color about 40ft down and knew right away it was a nice AP. We got him in the boat and managed to catch one more bigger one on the next drop. As we were putting the last African Pompano in the box ( Two per boat limit ) we could see Blackfin Tunas busting behind the boat. I threw a live Pilchard on and drifted it back, handed the rod to Steven and BOOM fish on! We caught the Tuna and ended up it was the 12th species Steven had caught on his two day fishing adventure here in the Florida Keys. Honestly we couldn’t have had a better guy to take out and show the waters and fishery that we are so blessed to have. He got the two best days, weather wise that anyone could ask for and crushed the fishing. It was a great time and I am happy I could show him the same stuff I get to experience on a daily basis that I sometimes take for granted. He was thankful, happy, and definitely worn out from fighting so many fish the two days he was here.
Steven Roda , Tom Rowland, and Rich Tudor ~ AFRICAN POMPANO
Steven Roda - BLACKFIN TUNA